There is a need for composition and method able to transfer substances of interest from the outside medium to the inside of cells, and more specifically cell nuclei. Such composition and method are useful to enhance the delivery of drugs into the cytoplasm and/or the cell nucleus from the host organism being treated. An important application of such composition and method concerns the field of gene therapy where selective and non toxic vectors are necessary for introducing DNA into the cell and more specifically cell nuclei.
Peptides and amino acid sequences have been proposed to transfer substances of interest from the outside medium to the inside of cells. For example, PCT patent application published under No. WO 01/64738, describes amino acid sequences which react with aminoglycans and transfer a broad range of active substances (biological, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, nutritional, diagnostic or tracer) such as nucleic acids, proteins, drugs, antigens or antibodies.